I stumbled upon my latest mystery read quite by accident recently. I was reading Publisher’s Weekly, a professional journal, and came across the review for Cockatiels at Seven by Donna Andrews. Actually the most recent title in the series featuring Meg Langslow as its nosy, sensible, silly, newly-wed, and lovably loony civilian who tries to do police work.

Left with a friend’s (use the term friend loosely) 2-year-old toddler, Meg realizes that her keeping the baby for “just a little while” may not be exactly what’s happening. When friend Karen doesn’t answer the phone at home or her cell phone either, Meg decides she must find out what’s going on. She begins to suspect that her friend’s disappearance is tied to at least one serious crime. “Has Karen been killed or kidnapped? Is she on the run from the bad guys? Or is she one of the bad guys? The police don’t seem to care, so Meg once again plays sleuth…” (quote from book jacket)

The library owns others in the Meg series, all having something to do with birds in their titles. Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos is another title that strikes a chord of interest since I have an aversion to the pink plastic things that appear in people’s yards!

Ms. Andrews may, in my opinion, be a close competitor for Stephanie Plum and Janet Evanovich!